Thank goodness for government leaks and the leakers who leak them.
From the Pentagon Papers to the transcripts of President Trump’s (shudder) conversations with the leaders of Mexico and Australia, leaks of government information have overwhelmingly benefited the country. They serve the interests of democracy. They uncover that which the ruling class would like to keep covered. They embarrass those who, on balance, should be embarrassed. And they lay bare the conceit that the public cannot handle certain information.
After all, think of what we’ve learned about Michael Flynn and Russia and Jared Kushner and Mike Pence and James Comey and Jeff Sessions and Donald Trump. We’ve learned that each and every one of these people had something to hide. We learned that they lied, sometimes under oath. We learned that they did not follow the letter of the law or treat all examples of wrongdoing equally. And we learned that the president simply is not prepared intellectually or temperamentally for his job.
So now the president has a new Chief of Staff, John Kelly, who is renowned for not smiling much and for being a military guy who will bring order and discipline to the White House. He got rid of Anthony Scaramucci, which was not just a low-hanging-fruit moment, it was Kelly picking up a rotten apple and flinging it into the Potomac. Next up will be investigations, extreme vetting of current and potential executive branch hirings, and firings of those who are adjudged as insufficiently kowtow-ish.
What he, or any other White House employee, will not stop are the leaks. The simple truth is that there are just too many people in government who see the danger that Trump represents. It’s one thing to oppose policy, whether it’s about Vietnam, the Cold War, missile defenses, Israel, bugging, or a military man who sets up a shadow government in the bowels of the White House. It’s quite another to have a president who doesn’t know the limits the constitution puts on his power. We’ve already seen cabinet members express their personal fealty to Donald Trump, not to the constitution or the American people. We’ve heard the president complain that Jeff Sessions did not have his back when Sessions correctly recused himself from the Russia investigation. We’ve also heard him talk about other government officials who don’t support him personally.
Under these circumstances, it is incumbent upon those who can uncover circumspect, illegal and immoral actions to uncover them. To publish them. To post them. To shout them.
So leakers, please keep taking leaks. Especially with this crew in the White House.
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